Futbol, Football, Soccer… whatever you say and whatever you think of it, you cannot deny the greatness that is Lionel Messi. You cannot deny the greatness of FC Barcelona, one of the greatest teams with one hell of a history. I may not be on the same level as some European fans when it comes to futbol, but I enjoy the sport and appreciate its history and culture.
Now one of my biggest regrets from my semester abroad in Granada was not going to a futbol match. Even if it was Granada’s team… Either way I missed out. After this summer and watching the World Cup in Rio, I knew that I had to make it to a game this time around. Especially living in Barcelona.
Well it was Friday night and Monste casually told me that tomorrow she had to study and that Jaume would take the kids and me to the FC Barcelona game, if I wanted to go. YES. Of course I wanted to go! Jaume’s father has season tickets and so that was that, tomorrow we would be going to the game. Ok ok, I am mentally prepared to see some of the greatest names in the game. Not to mention that Messi was on the cusp of breaking the record for most goals scored in La Liga.
So it was Saturday, not going to lie I was pretty dead from going out the night before but I sucked it up and drank some water. The kids were all excited for the game, singing and chanting in their Barca jerseys. I once told them that Pique was my boyfriend so there were plenty of chants along the lines of Pique and Janel, boyfriend and girlfriend. The family had a Barca scarf that they let me wear and then we were ready to go. Jaume’s father also has a premiere parking spot because I am not kidding when I say that we parked literally 20 feet from our gate. Which to me was so odd because there is no way you could ever pull a stunt like that at a Packers or Brewers game. We went to a face painting booth where the kids (and me) got our faces painted.
Walking into Camp Nou was an overwhelming experience. I have never been to a giant profession futbol stadium and Wow, was it huge. I was instantly overwhelmed by its size and was temporarily blinded by the fluorescent lighting. Our seats were on the second tier and pretty much at midfield. The players were out on the field warming up and I saw my boy Pique along with Messi, Neymar, Suarez, and Xavi. The players then went off the field and returned later to shake hands with the other team.
Around the 20th minute Messi scored his 251st goal in La Liga and then tied the record with Telmo Zarra. Camp Nou went crazy to say the least. Everyone started chanting Messi, waving flags, and bowing. It was an amazing feeling that could be felt throughout the crowd. Neymar then got a header and later Rakitic would score for a 3-1 lead. It was around the 72nd minute when history was made and Messi would score to break the Record. He was immediately surrounded by his teammates who tossed him in the air while the crowd at Camp Nou broke out into chaos. Messi was not done for the night though, he struck another goal which just sealed the deal that he is the best of the best.
Blurry but the players throwing Messi in the air after breaking the record
To say the least my first professional futbol game was memorable and history making. One of my favorite moments I have had thus far and I couldn’t thank my host family enough for taking me with.
Lazy Wanderer 